Crash and Burn
by JazziePerson
Summary: TV Show Episode Title Challenge - Prompt Set #14: Title Challenge: Serious Life Control Issues - I don't have a fear of flying; I have a fear of crashing - Billy Bob Thornton - - Emily has a secret that is revealed after an almost accident.
1. The Crack in the Wall

**Author's Note: **So, new story. I've had this one buzzing around my head for ages and finally I wrote it. Even though I'm currently writing a story which needs about five chapters still writing before I post it, I just had to write this. It's only three chapters and they're all written so it shouldn't take long to get this one done. Please review and tell me what you think. Be warned: this is a bit AU. This is a prompt for the whole story.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters.

Crash and Burn

**Prompt Set #14**

Show: Life

Title Challenge: Serious Control Issues

The Crack in the Wall

It was quiet on the jet. Most of the team was asleep. They were flying back from Las Vegas after a case. The killer had been caught, five families given closure and two lives saved. They'd done well, they'd only been away for four days. Nothing had gone wrong: it had been a cut and dry case.

Almost everyone had fallen asleep as soon as they'd got on the jet. They barely slept on cases and it was nearly one in the morning, after all.

Reid had fallen asleep reading. Rossi had dropped off after insisting he was only resting his eyes. Morgan had drifted off listening to his music; he still had his headphones on. JJ had fallen asleep in the process of choosing the team's next case. Hotch had gotten up at that point, removing the files from her lap and placing them on the table before throwing a blanket over her. And Garcia was presumably in bed back home.

But Hotch and Emily had remained awake despite the early hour. Hotch was going through case files, his face creased in concentration and Emily was simply staring out of the window, deep in thought. She was watching the storm cloud, her mind elsewhere really. It, the storm cloud, had been growing for the last half hour but, as beautiful as it was, Emily was hoping that they'd get past it before it got any bigger.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hotch had been watching Emily for the last few minutes, rather than looking through the files as he had pretended to be doing. She was tense, her body language practically shouting anxiety. Her forehead was pinched, her eyebrows scrunched up as she thought. She'd been twisting a pen in her fingers but after a while, she'd starting tapping it against the edge of the table, emitting a small clicking noise. Had she not been so agitated, Hotch would have been irritated.

"Prentiss?" he asked, abandoning all pretence of work.

"Huh?" Emily's head jerked up, her eyes focussing on Hotch's face. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Emily's eyebrows disappeared under her hair. Hotch sounded concerned. Not that he was incapable of concern for his team, but it did surprise them all when the man who was usually so tight with his emotions showed feeling towards them. It was the difference between knowing something academically and seeing it in real life.

Emily plastered a smile across her face, trying to mask her nervousness. Bloody profilers, she thought to herself, he'd pick up on it in an instant. "I'm fine. Really."

Hotch continued to regard her with an expression that clearly said I-don't-believe-you-but-I'm-not-sure-whether-to-let-it-go-or-not.

"I'm just a bit tired." Emily tried to get him to let it go.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Hotch suggested.

"I... I'm just too wired." Emily told him. It was the truth. But then came the lie. "It's just the case. I can never sleep after a case." The lies were always followed by the truth. She was getting better at it. She spun up lies in truth, confused the two so people wouldn't question her. She'd been doing it for years; it was inevitable that she'd get good at it.

"I know what you mean."

‟I just-" Emily was cut off by the plane rolling to one side. She gasped as she was knocked against the table. The files flew off the table, fluttering through the air and landing scattered on the floor before being thrown in the air again.

Reid was tossed off the couch and he landed on the floor, suddenly jolted awake. ‟What the-" he was about to curse but was cut off when the plane swayed again.

Morgan fell to the ground beside Reid, his headphones missing.

The whole team held on through the turbulence, holding onto anything as tightly as they could, their eyes squeezed shut in terror.

Hotch managed to open his eyes for just a minute and saw that Emily had her eyes wide open. Tears were slipping from her lashes and she was practically chewing through her lip. In that split second, Hotch realised that she wasn't seeing what was actually happening, but rather something that had happened before.

His stomach churning, Hotch closed his eyes again but reached out and grabbed hold of Emily's arm, hoping that at least she knew that she wasn't alone. That the rest of the team were there for her.

And then the plane was level again, cruising through the air again like nothing had happened. Reid looked up from the floor, panting.

"Is it over?" he gasped.

"I'm going to go and talk to the pilot." Rossi told the room gravely and stood up, slightly unsteady after the awful turbulence.

Morgan climbed up from the floor and held out a hand to help Reid back onto his feet. JJ crouched down on the floor, picking up all the papers and organizing them into their respective files.

Hotch turned to look at Emily, releasing her arm from his iron grip. She wiped her face with her sleeve and shook her head, as if shaking away the fear. Looking up, she met Hotch's eyes and smiled weakly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Emily nodded hastily. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Hotch nodded.

Emily turned away and looked out of the window. They'd passed the storm cloud and Emily would guess that that was the reason the plane had temporarily spun out of control. She took a deep breath, banishing the fear back down where it had languishing away for the last twenty-two years. She pushed it back behind the wall that kept it at bay, cementing over the crack that had been made by the turbulence. She had to keep it locked down, or she wouldn't be able to do this job, especially not with all the flying the team had to do.

Taking another deep breath, she felt almost calm again. She wiped her face again and licked her lips, trying to make herself look vaguely normal again. She didn't want the team to know about this; she didn't want them to feel sorry for her. So it was going to remain a secret. It was only dangerous to keep secrets in their job if it affected the case. And there was no way she was going to let it. Not a hope in hell.


	2. Terror That Blows Your Mind

**Author's Note: **So here is the second chapter. Firstly I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter immensely! It was truly incredible, the feedback that I got so this chapter is for all of you. Secondly, apologies to anyone who is scared of flying: this chapter is a bit brutal in that department. Just so you all know, I'm actually terrified of flying! So we're all in this together. Lastly, short note, I made Emily and her Mother's relationship slightly warmer here as I figured a tragedy like this would be enough to drive them apart a bit. Third and last chapter will be up tomorrow. Thanks guys, and please review.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the original characters.

Crash and Burn

**Prompt Set #14**

Show: Life

Title Challenge: Serious Control Issues

Terror That Blows Your Mind

Seventeen-year-old Emily Prentiss sat up a little straighter under her Mother's gaze. Even though they weren't sharing a conversation or even looking at each other, Emily could sense her Mother's eyes on her and she could feel the pursing of her lips, the disapproval that rolled off her in waves at her daughter's 'poor' posture or 'poor' choice of literature. Emily was actually reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five which was exactly the fifth time she'd read it. She'd been keeping count and it had been, by her approximation, about two months since she'd last read it and to be honest, Emily had thought it was a good choice for this five hour plane journey. It wasn't like there was anyone to talk to, it being her Mother's private plane. The book was one of her favourites, along with Mother Night and whatever her Mother said or thought, she was going to read it and keep reading it until she got bored of it. The probability of which was decreasing rapidly.

"Yes, Mother?" Emily prompted, her nose still in her book, her concentration still on the small text in front of her.

"Have you started your summer reading list? Surely you should be reading that rather than a novel you've read about ten times." Her Mother probed.

Emily still didn't look up. "It's only the fifth time, Mother. I've already read two of the books and I've still got ages. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, well, forgive me for taking an interest in my daughter's education." Elizabeth Prentiss huffed slightly before turning back to the files she was reading through.

Emily glanced up and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Generally, her Mother was all bark and no bite. She could be fun when she wasn't stressed and she was always good for help in times of need. And as for her huffing and apparently blatant disapproval of everything her daughter did, Emily still found it kind of funny. She could laugh about it and roll her eyes. It wasn't annoying. Yet.

Anyway, for the time being at least, she and her Mother had a fairly good relationship, better than some of the people she spent time with had with their parents. So she counted herself pretty lucky on that front.

They'd been on the plane for a further two hours when Emily got a bit bored of reading. She was an avid reader but even she got bored of reading after almost three hours. She'd just looked up when the plane jerked.

The turbulence tipped her onto the floor, causing her to knock her head on the table as she went down. Her Mother's papers flew up in the air, fluttering to the ground as the plane suddenly evened out.

Emily looked up at her Mother with wide, slightly glazed eyes. "What the hell was that?"

"Emily, watch your language." Elizabeth Prentiss seemed barely ruffled by the sudden adventure. "And to answer your question, I really have no idea. I think I'd better go and talk to the pilot." She stood up, as gracefully as ever and made her way towards the cabin.

Emily winced and touched the back of her head, still sitting on the floor in the aisle. Bringing her hand back, she found no blood but she had no doubt that there would be a nasty bruise.

Her Mother had just reached the cabin when the plane jolted again, throwing her against the door. Emily slid down the aisle, crashing into her at the end. There was no chance to apologise because, suddenly, the plane was nose-diving and both Emily and her Mother screaming in terror.

Emily couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. She could just feel the earth coming closer and closer to them and the only thought that held any significance in her mind was: '_I am going to die_'. She couldn't think of anything else, she wouldn't have been able to if her life depended on it, which it may have. All she could do was scream.

Emily, the present day Emily sat up abruptly in bed. She felt the tears running down her face. There was a knocking at her front door and for a moment, she considered ignoring it. But then she realised that it was probably her elderly neighbour, Mrs Williams. Emily figured she'd probably been screaming in her sleep again like her seventeen-year-old self had in that recurring dream and that it had, again, woken her neighbour.

So she got up slowly and made her way over to the door, not bothering to wipe her face. She opened the door to see Mrs Williams in her dressing gown, holding an umbrella out like a weapon.

"Emily! Are you okay? What is going in there?" she inquired suspiciously.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Williams, I didn't mean to wake you up." Emily said wearily. "It was a nightmare, I'm really sorry." She apologised.

Mrs Williams instantly relaxed her hand on the umbrella and a look of sympathy passed over her face. Emily almost winced. She didn't want sympathy. She didn't want sympathy, not from anybody. So she tried to escape.

"Thank you for checking on me." It sounded stiff even to her ears. "I'm going to head back to bed."

"Okay," Mrs Williams smiled. "Goodnight dearie."

Emily closed the door quickly. But she had no intention of going back to sleep. If she did, she would feel that same terror again, that same mind-blowing terror that made her scream in her sleep. She didn't want that again. She didn't want to feel that over and over again.

So she turned on the television and flicked on the news. The stories went round and round and round in a loop for hours but she wasn't really watching. She was remembering every detail of the plane crash, every piercing aspect that haunted her. Because as hard as she tried, it was going to stay with her forever.


	3. Revelations

**Author's Note: **I'm really sorry, guys. I promised I'd put this last chapter up last night but my amazing, adorably insane best friend invited herself over and could I really say no? :) So anyway, by the time she had gone and I'd had dinner, I was so knackered that I fell asleep on the sofa. That's my reasoning. I was going to do it this morning but I slept in because I was so tired and I was nearly late for school! Ah well, here it is. Please review for this is the end of Crash and Burn where all will be explained.

DSCLAIMER: I don't own anything :(

Crash and Burn

**Prompt Set #14**

Show: Life

Title Challenge: Serious Control Issues

Revelations 

The dreams went on. Every night, Emily woke up screaming. It was as if the turbulence on the jet home had brought back all the memories and they were torturing her subconscious while she slept. Mrs Williams had stopped checking up on her, stopped making sure that she was alright. But Emily still woke up screaming every night, having the exact same dream.

And it was beginning to show in her work. She had been less alert when they went out and her input in the profile had decreased. It had become easier to fall asleep on the jet but she never let herself. She'd have a whole lot of explaining to do if she woke up screaming.

But then again, she knew Hotch had picked up on what was going on. He'd seen her freak out on the jet and he had to have realised that something was bothering her. And that was why she wasn't surprised when Hotch asked to see her in his office, a week or so after the turbulence on the jet.

"Yes, Hotch?" Emily sat opposite him, the desk between them.

"I think you know why I asked you to come in here." Hotch informed her.

Emily said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"Something's bothering you and it is affecting your work so I need to know now before I put you back in the field." Hotch was brusque and Emily stiffened a little.

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She looked down at her feet.

"I saw what happened on the jet, Emily."

Emily twisted her hands together, not sure what to say. "I guess it brought back memories."

"Of what, Emily?" Hotch asked gently, losing the 'boss' quality he'd had a moment ago. Now he was just someone who was concerned about her.

"When..." Emily met his eyes and stopped for a second, almost as if she was deciding whether or not to let this secret be exposed. But it was eating away at her and Hotch was right: it was affecting her work. She could get someone killed. So she continued, "When I was seventeen, I was on a private plane with my Mother. I can't remember where we were coming from or where we were going but halfway through the journey. The plane went down; we found out afterwards that the plane had been sabotaged."

"Both you and your mother survived?" Hotch asked even though he already knew the answer.

Emily nodded, rubbing her hands together slowly. "Yeah. The pilots were killed on impact." She licked her lips. "I woke up in a hospital. My Mother was there too. She had six broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken cheek bone, broken arm and a whole host of internal injuries. It was awful. I guess that's why we can't talk to each other anymore. It's too hard."

"I get that." Hotch smiled at her. "What happened to you?"

Emily shook her head, blowing her breath out through her mouth. "Broke both my legs, one was the ankle joint, one above the knee. My elbow was broken, so was my jaw bone and because of the impact explosion , I got a lot of burns. There was more but..." he sniffed, trying to keep herself under control.

"It's okay." Hotch stood up and rounded the desk to rest his hand on Emily's shoulder. "It's alright."

Taking a deep breath, Emily continued. "Now, every time there's turbulence on a plane, all I can remember is that. All I can remember is that utter, mind-blowing terror."

"I'm sorry." Emily nodded at Hotch's condolences.

"Yeah. So am I."

"But it will get better, you know." Hotch told her earnestly and she looked up, meeting his eyes. "Each time, the fear will be less. It will get better and it will get easier."

Emily looked up at him. His face was so serious. He probably had a shed load of work to do but still he was talking to her about one of the most traumatic experiences in her life. And here he was telling her that one day it would be okay.

She smiled a little. "I hope so, Hotch. I really hope so."


End file.
